Supporting harness for pails



Aug. 8, 1939. R. K. CLARK SUPPORTING HARNESS FOR PAILS Filed July 14, 1957 Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES vPATENT `OFFICE 1 Claim.

.This invention relates to improvements in harnesses to be worn by workers, in orchards and elsewhere, for supporting pails or other receptacles into which the fruit may be deposited as 5 it is picked.

One object of the invention is to provide a harness which ts the wearer comfortably and leaves the arms perfectly free for the purpose of picking fruit.

Another object is to provide a harness which supports a receptacle at a convenient height so that the picker will not have to lower his or her hands unnecessarily when picking fruit which hangs as high as the head or higher.

A further object is to provide a harness which is adjustable to different figures and which may support the receptacle at different relative heights at the option of the user, such adjustment both of the length and girth of said harness being accomplished readily by manipulation of a single buckle.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the description hereinafter given of the preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the harness as it appears when being worn by one engaged in picking fruit, as for example in a cherry orchard;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the harness on a somewhat larger scale;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modified form of mechanical fastening device for detachably holding a pail or other receptacle; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation on a larger scale of the lower end of one of the straps of Fig. 3 and of the fastening device.

In Fig. 1, a pail I is shown, which in case cherries are being picked, is of moderate size and has the usual bail II and bead IZ around the top. The pail may be detachably secured to the harness in various ways. In the particular arrangement shown, a pair of hooks I3, I3, depend from the harness in front of the wearer and pass through punched openings in the pail, the bail II hanging down as shown in Fig. 1 where it is out of the way, leaving the top of the pail comparatively unobstructed.

The harness comprises essentially a pair of straps I4, I4', which may be made of any suitable material as for example heavy, woven fabric, called webbing. The lower front end of the straps are folded back on themselves and stitched at I5, I5', at I6, I6' and at I'I, I'I. 'Ihis provides two fairly large loops near the lower end of each strap and a smaller loop below the lowest line of stitching. 'Ihe latter loop may receive a flat or substantially rectangular wire ring I8 of conventional form which supports the hook I3,

The straps pass over the shoulders of the wearer, as for example in the Fig. 1 arrangement in which the harness is worn by a woman picker, and may cross in front of the wearer, being stitched together at I9, whereby the weight of the pail and contents is supported by the shoulders and whereby the pressure of the front of the harness against the wearer is applied about the middle of the chest. The straps extend back over the shoulders and downwardly and are crossed behind the wearers back, being stitched together at 20 and secured by a cross strap 2lI stitched at its ends to straps I4, I4' to keep them from pulling too far apart and to be sure that they will lie flat against the wearers back.

The end of the strap I4 is much longer than the end of the strap I4', as will be apparent from Fig. 2. The longer end comprises a belt 22 and is brought down and around to the front of the wearer, passing through the loops between the stitchings I6, II in one strap and between the stitchings I6', I'I' in the other strap. The end ol the strap is then passed through any suitable form of buckle 23, which is secured to the end of the strap I4 and the harness is thus adjustably secured to the wearer. The belt, as shown in Fig. 1, extends across the abdomen of the wearer in a fairly high position, i. e. as it passes around the body from front to rear, it is fairly high, under the arms, particularly in back, but the belt portion in front cannot slide up too high on the wearer because it passes through the loops previously referred to, which latter tend to be pulled downwardly by the bucket. With the arrangement described, the pressure against the body due to the weight of the buckets contents, is quite evenly distributed across the chest, around up under the arms, across the back and over the shoulders and is therefore very comfortable as compared with other devices heretofore used.

The buckle, as shown in Fig. 1, is arranged at one side although its location may be varied, preferably between a point at the side under the arm and a point near the strap I4'. In other words, there is a latitude of several inches a1- lowed.

A convenient elevation for the pail has been found to be near the waistline rather than much lower. This position maybe varied somewhat by adjusting the belt 22 and the buckle 23 and such adjustment permits a change in the effective length of the shoulder straps as well as providing for variations in girth in different wearers. 'Ihe pail can also be lowered by running the belt 22 through the upper loop in each strap instead of through the Iniddle one of the three loops, which latter is the arrangement shown in Fig. 2. The upper loop may be omitted, if desired.

As will appear from Fig. l, the strap fits the wearer in such a way as to leave the arms entirely free for picking.

Instead of hooks passing through openings punched in the pail, the harness may, if desired,

be equipped with detachable devices to engage the bead at the upper end of the pail, thereby avoiding the necessity of providing perforations. In Fig. 3 the straps 25 are shown crossing each other in front, in the manner previously described, and the lower end of each strap is folded over as shown in Fig. 4 and stitched at 26, 21 and 28, thereby forming three loops such as described above. A belt 29 is shown passing through one of said loops. Said belt may constitute the lower, rear end of one of the straps where the harness is of the type shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or it may be a separate belt if such is permissible. In any case, the lowestl loop receives the ring 3U which has swiveled to it another ring 3| through which ring pass inclined extensions on the upper ends of spring clamping arms 32, pivoted to each other at 33 and provided with a spring 34 which normally holds the lower ends 35 together. By squeezing the upper end of the device the jaws 35 at the lower end are separated and snapped over the bead I2 on the pail IIJ.

As prewously stated, the harness as a whole provides a conveniently adjustable and comfortable means of supporting a pail, bucket or other receptacle in a position to receive the fruit which is being picked, without unnecessary movement of the arms, and it is readily adjustable for use either by men or women pickers.

I claim:

A supporting harness for a receptacle, comprising two straps arranged to pass over the shoulders of the wearer, the lower front ends each having a fastening device loop and a strap carying loop therein, a mechanical fastening device secured to the fastening device loop of each strap, said straps crossing at the back of the wearer and being brought down forwardly under the arms, one passing through the strap-carrying loop in each of said ends and adjustably secured to the other to permit lengthening or shortening of the harness as a whole, to vary the height of said receptacle with respect to the wearer, and a transverse strap secured to said two straps below the rear intersection thereof.

ROBERT K. CLARK. 

